MANSFIELD — Projection was never a problem for Millie Leverton, a 4-foot-11 dynamo whose talent and determination made her a local community theater giant for almost 60 years.
When Leverton spoke, you listened.
Sadly, that voice was forever silenced on Wednesday when the 77-year-old died after a battle with cancer.
Some of those who knew Leverton best gathered at the Mansfield Playhouse on Wednesday to look at photos and reminisce about the 1954 graduate of Mansfield Senior High School.
“Millie was a natural,” said Renee Rebman, who came to the Playhouse in 1978. “Good God she had high standards and she met them herself.”
Those standards set by Leverton, who never had formal theater training, were a popular topic for discussion among her friends on Wednesday, as well as from local actors posting on social media.
“As a director, Millie was tough and held everyone to a high standard,” said current Playhouse board President Carla Eighinger. “That was because she believed in everyone’s ability to produce a great show.
“Many of the performers from the Mansfield community can attribute some part of their growth as an actor to Millie’s influence.”
Leverton began her local work on stage while still in high school in the 1950s, performing for the Mansfield Little Theater. That group later merged with the Mansfield Community Players and created the Mansfield Playhouse in 1967, making Leverton a founding member.
Her career spanned six decades, concluding in 2013 when she performed in “The Foreigner” and then directed “It’s A Wonderful Life.” For all of her many talents on stage, the consensus among her friends was Leverton directed even more shows than she performed.
“Millie will forever be one of my favorite theater actresses and directors,” said board member Steve Zigmund. “She would always speak her mind. I will never forget hearing her yell from the back of the theater … “Pacing! Pacing! Pacing!’
“I will always admire her dedication to the Playhouse.”
One of Leverton’s best known roles at the Playhouse came in 1985 when she starred in the “Belle of Amherst,” a 90-minute, one-woman show on the life of Emily Dickinson. Former Mansfield News Journal reporter John Futty wrote this of her performance, “The show provides further evidence that she is the premiere actress in town, hands down.”
Paul Prosser, the Playhouse artistic director at the time, wrote, “(Leverton) is an actress of rare dramatic and comedic gifts which lift her above amateur status.”
Veteran performer Beau Roberts posted on Facebook that Leverton was his first director as a child actor and was reunited with her in 2005 when he returned to the stage.
“She was tough and didn’t let anything slide because she knew what she wanted,” Roberts said. “She was an incredible lady and I learned a lot about theater and about myself because of her. Tiny, but fierce. Commanding, yet funny. A giant loss for the theater community.”
Leverton was more than an actress/director to Doug and Tammy Wertz, the current artistic director and theater manager, respectively.
“She was family,” said Doug Wertz, who came to the Playhouse in 1980. “We learned a lot from each other. Our kids were raised in the theater with Millie.”
Tammy Wertz said, “Since I was not on stage with her, Millie was more family to me than anything. She was a huge supporter of the Playhouse and our family. She would just show up at my door and say, ‘I am taking the kids to the movies or for candy,’ just to give me a break.
“She held strong in her beliefs and in her disbeliefs. She was brutally honest. I really respected that.”
Two of Leverton’s fellow Playhouse “founding members,” Lynda Smith and Susie Schaus, also came to the Playhouse on Wednesday to remember their friend.
“We were competitive when it came to auditions for roles,” Schaus said. “We were both about the same size and age so we tried out for a lot of the same parts. But we stayed good buddies.
“If I thought she was going to be better for a role, I stayed home and she did the same.”
Smith, a current board member, recalled a review of one of her own performances.
“I was called a lovable curmudgeon and that’s always how I thought of Millie. She would give you the shirt off of her back … and then tell you what to do with it,” Smith said with a smile.
